Inspirations

"But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined." - Job 23:10-11

"Jesus declared that the least amount of faith that he could give was greater and mightier than the largest amount of the power of the devil." - Kathryn Kuhlman

PRAYER MOTIVATOR

"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." - Matthew 6:6

"The evangelization of the world in this generation depends first of all upon a revival of prayer." - Robert Speer

SOUL-WINNING MOTIVATOR

"And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word." - Acts 4:29

"If you wish to experience the level of joy that so many others have found, you will have to drop those excuses for not sharing your faith." - Bill Fay

Before You Apply For that Small Business Loan, Read This

February 04, 2014

Capital is the lifeblood of all business. Whether for start-up, expansion or operational purposes, virtually all businesses will find themselves in need of more at some point. While many small business owners may debate whether traditional financing (from banks) is available these days, community banks have shown they are more likely to engage in small business lending. That said, how can small business owners best position themselves to be able to get the capital that they need?

BLACK ENTERPRISEÂ spoke with Terry Jorde, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff for theÂ Independent Community Bankers of America. Based in Washington, DC, the ICBA is an organization that represents nearly 7,000 member community banks.

Hereâ€™s what she said:

BE: There is this perception among a lot of small business owners, be it deserved or not, thatÂ traditional financing is off the table right now. Are banks lending and if they are how can an entrepreneur best position themselves to be able to get the capital that they need?

Terry Jorde: Community banks are lending. They never stopped lending through the financial crisis. The assets of community banks only make up about 20% of all of the assets in the country of the banking system, but they make 60% of all of the small business loans. Thatâ€™s because of the relationship model that a community bank has versus a Wall Street bank. Wall Street banks are much more focused on transactions and volume and making a profit off of trading and that type of thing. They have a symbiotic relationship with that community, so if they donâ€™t lend into the community, and especially to their small businesses to help them start up and grow, then the community bank doesnâ€™t survive either, because by and large most of their stockholders, most of their employees, live right in that local community.

Whatâ€™s the main reason why entrepreneurs are denied?

Jorde: I donâ€™t know that I would say that thereâ€™s a main reason. One might be that the entrepreneur hasnâ€™t really thought through what their goals are. Itâ€™s one thing to just have a dream and say, â€śI want to do this. That looks easy.â€ť As you know, itâ€™s hard to run a small business. Thereâ€™s risk in it. The bank is taking risk and the entrepreneur is taking risk. It does take some thoughtful analysis as to what is entailed. You donâ€™t just do it overnight.